European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 18, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 18 the stars and stripes August 1985 prime minister Rajiv Gandhi sikh Leader Harchand Singh Longowa Exchange copies of Punjab a photo sout to the sikhs Unity by Steven Weisman new York times some kind of a dream of Unity has occupied the mind of India since the Dawn of wrote Jawaharlal the country first prime in recent nothing has jeopardized that dream More than the confrontation with members of the sikh religious agitating for greater autonomy in the strategically vital farming state of the the sikh crisis led to the assassination last year of prime minister Indira Nehru and threatened to transform Punjab into a permanently wounded Region comparable to Northern now an Accord Between prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and moderate sikh leaders has produced Hope of an end to the Cycle of revenge and turmoil that has Cost thousands of lives and spread fear of terrorism Here and both Gandhi and sikh leaders have won Praise for their willingness to an angry minority or militants has vowed to continue their and some of them clashed violently with supporters of the pact outside the Golden Temple at the sikhs holiest in new the murder of a member of parliament was thought by Many to have been committed by sikh but most indications were that the Accord was winning Broad acceptance among the country 14 million map indicates sikh population perhaps More striking has been a sense among Many in India that the new spirit of accommodation could strengthen democratic institutions and encourage efforts to address other regional and ethnic democracy cannot function without said Nirmal a political scientist at the Center for policy with every Success of this democracy in India becomes solidified All the some Indian politicians wonder whether Gandhi willingness to Compromise with sinks May encourage More demands by other dissident but most columnists and commentators have praised the prime minister for showing More flexibility than his Mother this has surprised Many sceptics because during the december Gandhi used one of his mothers tactics whipping up sentiment against threats to he repeatedly appealed for votes by asserting that Only he and the ruling Congress party could prevent India imminent now Gandhi aides and allies have redoubled efforts to resolve particular caste and religious conflicts that have recently turned the Western state of Gujarat into a kind of War More than 250 people have died in fighting there in the last five in officials say they May be close to an Accord in the northeastern where a thousand died in hindu attacks on moslem in the subcontinent has Long been plagued by warfare and the British decision to partition it into predominantly and predominantly in 1947 led to the uprooting of millions of families and the Slaughter of hundreds of in War erupted again and East Pakistan broke away from West becoming since India itself has been beset by dissent and Indira Gandhi placated one secessionist movement in the Southern state of tamil Nadu by promising not to Force the people to adopt hindi As a National in she went so far As to sign a compact assuring that a popular moslem Leader could return from exile to serve As chief but Gandhi failed to quell violent insurgencies in the northeastern and the area remains highly until the India was kept together not Only by its Constitution but also by the remarkable support 3d by the Congress oppose Tion parties began taking control of the states two decades creating friction with the prime today these parties draw most of their support in states like West Andora Bradsh and whose leadership now forms the principal opposition to Rajiv prime minister Nehru spoke often of India Fiss Parous its Builtin pressure to split but Many historians Point out that in years of Rich and turbulent history there actually never was a period when the subcontinent was unified until the British Nehru dream of one these historians existed mostly in his own even Nehru managed to impart that vision to his and today it serves As an element of political reality in but there Are other fifteen official languages and More than a thousand dialects make communication divisions Are also fostered by regional and religious although overwhelmingly the country still has one of the worlds largest moslem India enormous economic Progress also has brought its Gandhi has traced much of today violence to trying to do things in maybe 30 or 50 years that other countries have taken hundreds of years to in recent India has attempted to redress economic imbalances by pouring More investment into backward this has brought discord As the poor scramble for scarce some 50 million people remain in primitive tribes in the Central Forest and Hill where hydroelectric Coal mines and steel Mills Are Many of these projects have been stopped by angry at not sharing in the but experts agree that without further economic India cannot address the problems of the lesson of the Punjab seems to have been the one that Nehru recognized from the As George editor of the Indian puts it India Unity rests on the recognition and acceptance of its but that Unity can Only be preserved by bringing modernization and social Justice to